The present invention relates to a tool for stripping insulation from electrical wire and cable and, in particular, to a hand tool which incorporates a circular ringing knife blade and a separate stripping or shaving blade to remove insulation in the mid portion of a span of wire or cable of various diameters.
Among the many known cable insulation shaving or stripping tools are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,204,495, 3,361,015, 3,398,610 and 3,572,189 to the inventor of the present application. These tools generally utilize a pivoting stripping or shaving blade which helically strips the cable insulation as the tool is rotated around the cable. The angle of the pivotal stripping blade changes with respect to the cable as a function of the depth of cut, thereby resulting in varying blade angles for different size cables or different depths of cut. Although such tools can be utilized in stripping a section of insulation in an intermediate portion of the span of the wire or cable, it is desirable to provide a tool which is more easily grasped by the user and able to quickly adjust to different diameter cables and depth of cut to more effectively strip mid-span cable insulation.
Bearing in mind the deficiencies of the prior art and need for improvement, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an insulation stripping tool for wire and cable which is especially adapted for quick and easy removal of a portion of the cable insulation intermediate the cable ends.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand-held and operated tool for mid-span stripping of wire and cable which permits accurate preselection of stripping depth.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mid-span insulation stripping tool which provides effective engagement of blade cutting edges during operation.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a mid-span insulation stripping tool which utilizes a constant, fixed cutting angle for the insulation stripping blade.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mid-span insulation stripping device which meets the aforementioned objects and is usable on wire or cable of varying diameter.